Cooking Martino

WORK IN PROGRESS!

I still have much to add on this page. Please come back at a later date for more information.

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Tuscan

I glia le becchafiche & nettale molto bene no cacciando ne mouendo niente delle iteriori, Dapoi togli de le foglie de uite & mettegli dentro del ∫ale, finochio, & vm pocho di lar- do & i fa∫cia le dicte becchafiche in quelle foglie, & mettele accocer per ∫patio de meza hora, o mancho perch∫e cocono pre∫to ∫otto lacenere calda, Et ∫e tu li uoli arro∫tir le- gale aquattro aquattro i torno al∫peto p- la te∫ta & li pedi in ∫eme Et que∫to ∫i fa per- ch no gligua∫ti lo ∫peto.

English

Take the figpeckers and clean very well not expelling nor moving anything of the innards. Then take the leaf of a vine and put them with some salt, fennel, and a little lard and bundle the said figpeckers in those leaves, and put them to cook for the space of a half hour or less for they are cooked quickly under the hot ashes. And if you wish them roasted bind them four by four on a turn spit by the head and the feet together and this is done so they will not be spoiled by the spit.

Final Modern Recipe

Still working on this. I will be working on this recipe over the summer, or rather these two recipes.

Roasted Quail in Vine Leaves

8 quail

Spread out your grape leaves.

Comments

Below you will find some things I am thinking about concerning this recipe. Eventually they will be coherent, but they are not now!

To use lard or something else. See below comments. They are really interesting but also think about the timing on this recipe. We are told from the text that they “cook quickly under the hot ash” would an un-rendered pork product have time enough to melt and baste the birds? I will try the recipe with multiple different pork products and let you know. Now if the vine leaves would only grow!

Fennel - Does he mean seeds or the herb? I immediately go to the seeds, but the polpette recipe where Martino uses the same ingredients he says to “pesto” the ingredients. Here he says to “put with them”. Seems like I will have to try different versions.

In Platina book one recipe 15 (BK1 #15) the text specifically says seeds and in this recipe the text just says fennel. Florio says “Finocchio, the herbe fennell. Looke Dare finocchio.” No mention of the seeds. Suggestions?

Grape leaves - grow, grow, grow, grow!

Figpeckers are hard to buy at your local grocery store and even harder to catch, clean and cook so I suggest you substitute quail.

There are really two recipes here. Do they mean to prepare the figpeckers in exactly the same way (in the leaves) and then tie them to the spit or do they just mean to tie the figpeckers to the spit without any seasoning.

Platina BK VI # 32 In Ficedulas

VATMartino #32 Per quocere bechafichi qu sono bn gra∫∫i

Epulario 1598 #22 To Rost small birds.

Bruhler #59 Bechafichi

Riva #27 Per fare cocere bechafighe

Rosselli #22 Per cuocere beccafichi quando sono grassi

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Beccafico of Figpecker, also known as a the European Garden Warbler (Sylvia or Currica, hortensis)

Saturday, May 9, 2009

Recipe 32